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New York attorney general’s office says it will not drop Trump's $454 million civil judgment The New York attorney general’s office rebuffed President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to drop the $454 million civil fraud case, saying the appeal of the judgment poses no burden to his future presidency. In a letter to Trump’s attorney John Sauer, who last month asked New York attorney general Letitia James to dismiss the case following the election, New York’s Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote, ”Presidents do not have immunity from civil lawsuits arising from unofficial conduct, and such lawsuits may proceed while the President is in office.” The effort by Trump is his latest attempt to eliminate his legal cases as he returns to the White House next month.
Special counsel Jack Smith agreed to dismiss indictments charging Trump with subverting the 2020 election and improperly handling classified documents citing Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president. Trump asked a New York judge to dismiss the criminal hush money case and his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which brought the case, is opposing the motion.
The latest effort involves the civil fraud case that went to trial last year. More on the case: New York Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump and others fraudulently inflated the value of properties, including hotels and golf courses, on financial statements used to obtain favorable loan and insurance rates. He ordered Trump to pay $454 million, including interest.
Trump appealed and a decision by the appeals court could come at any time. “The trial is over, final judgment has been rendered, and defendants’ appeal to the First Department has been fully submitted and argued. Mr.
Trump’s official duties will not be impeded while awaiting the First Department’s decision,” Vale wrote. “Mr. Trump’s upcoming inauguration as the next President of the United States has no bearing on the pendency of defendants’ appeal in this action.
” Hegseth says meetings with GOP lawmakers "have been great" Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, said on Tuesday the meetings he has been having with senators as he tries to get the votes for confirmation “have been great.” “It’s a great process and we are honored to be a part of it. We’re just going to keep going,” he said.
When asked if he had the support of GOP Iowa senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joni Ernst, he said, “I’d never speak for Senator Ernst but I appreciate the time. It was an amazing conversation — She’s a wonderful combat vet, and I welcome all of her insight.” Ernst is seen as a key vote as he tries to convince skeptical senators after negative comments about women in combat, reports of heavy drinking and a sexual assault accusation that did not result in criminal charges and which Hegseth has denied.
Democratic senators urge Biden to extend more protections for immigrants ahead of Trump's inauguration In a new letter released Tuesday morning, Democratic senators are asking President Joe Biden to extend more protections to immigrants using executive actions ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. “As Senators who represent diverse states across our nation and who collectively represent millions of immigrant families, we write to express our deep concern about the threat the incoming administration poses to immigrants in our communities,” the senators said in the letter to the president. “We write now because the window to secure and finalize your administration’s policies is closing rapidly.
We urge you to act decisively between now and the inauguration of the President-elect to complete the important work of the past four years and protect immigrant families,” they added. Trump doubles down on promises: The letter comes after Trump laid out parts of his immigration agenda during an interview that aired on NBC News on Sunday . Trump said his administration’s mass deportation efforts will target people with criminal histories, but indicated it could go beyond deporting criminals — without specifying who the “other people outside of criminals” would be.
When asked whether he plans to deport every person who has entered the country illegally, he said, “I think you have to do it.” Asked about families with mixed immigration status — where parents are in the country illegally but their children are not — Trump said, “I don’t want to be breaking up families, so the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together, and you have to send them all back.” Trump also doubled down on his campaign promise to end birthright citizenship.
Trump did say, however, that he’s open to working with Democrats to preserve the legal status of “Dreamers” — an often-used term for immigrants who were brought to the US as children. These are Trump's picks for his Cabinet President-elect Donald Trump has moved swiftly to announce his selections for his next Cabinet and key administration posts. Since CNN projected on November 6 that Trump would win election for a second term, the incoming president has announced more than two dozen choices to lead key agencies and policy areas.
Cabinet members include the vice president and the heads of the 15 executive departments in the presidential line of succession. A president may also choose to elevate other roles to join the Cabinet. The following list includes roles that were Cabinet-level in Trump’s first Cabinet or that he specified in the announcement will be included this term.
See which people he has named through official statements. As Trump's legal challenges ease, state-level 2020 election charges still loom for over 45 allies Donald Trump derailed his 2020 election subversion indictments by winning back the White House, but dozens of his allies still face state criminal prosecutions that he, even as president, can’t shut down or short-circuit with pardons. Since the election, Democratic prosecutors in Georgia , Michigan , Arizona and Wisconsin have pledged to move ahead with cases against Trump allies who were involved with the “fake electors” plot, which tried to overturn his 2020 defeat in those states.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, another Democrat, also told CNN he is planning to soon bring a new indictment re-charging the 2020 fake electors from his state. (His original case was thrown out by a judge due to jurisdictional issues.) “I don’t make decisions based on who is the president,” Ford said.
“I make decisions based on the rule of law. And these state electors, in our estimation, violated laws of the state of Nevada that are worthy of prosecution,” Ford said, adding, “This case is not going away.” A total of 45 Trump allies and aides are currently facing charges across these four states, with another six expected to be re-indicted soon in Nevada.
While many defendants are state party officials or little-known GOP activists, some are prominent figures from Trump’s orbit including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows , his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani , and adviser Boris Epshteyn . The federal election subversion indictment against Trump, filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, has already been dismissed . And while the Georgia case against Trump and his 14 co-defendants remains in limbo, the state likely won’t move forward with charges against Trump while he’s the sitting president.
Trump’s lawyers recently asked a court to throw out his charges, citing his reelection. “It all speaks to the uniqueness of the legal issues surrounding President Trump,” said Elliot Williams, a CNN legal analyst and former Justice Department prosecutor. “What happens where a defendant is the only person in the country immune from prosecution, but has co-defendants charged with the same conduct? Every other defendant is stuck.
” Read the full story. Biden's administration is racing to secure a ceasefire in Gaza with Trump’s support The Biden White House is working increasingly closely with officials from the incoming administration as it races to try to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal to halt the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas before Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, according to multiple people familiar with the discussions. In the wake of the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon , talks over a Gaza deal have resumed quickly but quietly, with US officials scarred by a year of faltering efforts that have gone nowhere.
Not only would the Biden White House like to finally reach a ceasefire in its final weeks in office, but Trump’s desire to start his second term with both the Lebanon and Gaza conflicts wrapped up and the hostages held by Hamas released has breathed new life into a framework that collapsed several months ago. Five sources familiar with the conversations said there has been close coordination, with Trump’s team being kept apprised of the sensitive and painstaking work by Joe Biden ’s administration. The primary efforts are still being guided by Biden’s team and the two officials driving the ceasefire deal, CIA Director Bill Burns and the White House’s Brett McGurk.
Their counterpart in the Trump camp is Steve Witkoff, Trump’s recently named Middle East envoy. Witkoff visited both Israel and Qatar at the end of November, two sources familiar with his travel said. In his meeting with the Qatari prime minister, a principal mediator of the talks, they discussed the war in Gaza and the potential for a ceasefire deal.
Read the full story. Analysis: There is growing momentum for Cabinet picks who could define Trump’s second term The Cabinet confirmation drama around Donald Trump’s most provocative picks isn’t only about Pete Hegseth , Kash Patel , Tulsi Gabbard or Robert F. Kennedy Jr .
It’s mostly about Trump himself, and the kind of presidency he wants, the one he will end up getting, and the hopes of his MAGA movement that he’ll stand firm on his vow to shake the federal administrative state to its core and enact his and their revenge. The stakes were laid bare in recent days by a fierce pressure campaign on social and conservative media targeting Sen. Joni Ernst over her reservations about Trump’s Pentagon pick, Hegseth.
His candidacy became increasingly important after Trump lost his first pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, over alleged sexual misconduct claims that the former lawmaker denies. Last week, the Iowa Republican’s hesitations about Hegseth left the former Fox News anchor’s confirmation hopes imperiled due to the GOP’s narrow incoming Senate majority. Amid concerns about sexual assault and drinking allegations and his past opposition to women serving in the military, some of her colleagues had even floated Ernst, an Iraq war veteran who’s fought sexual abuse in the military, as a possible replacement candidate.
But on Monday, after rapidly rising pressure, including in her home state, Ernst said in a statement after another meeting with Hegseth that she would “support Pete through this process” and looked forward to a “fair hearing” while not committing to vote for his confirmation. (Hegseth has denied any sexual misconduct and was not charged over a 2017 incident in California). The Iowa Republican had faced warnings on social media that she’d encounter a primary challenge in 2026 if she didn’t shelve her reservations about Hegseth.
Read Collinson’s full analysis. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meets Trump and Musk at Mar-a-Lago Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, shared a post on X on Monday showing he visited with Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “USA today.
The future has begun! An afternoon in Mar-a-Lago with @realDonaldTrump, @elonmusk and @michaelgwaltz,” Orbán wrote in the post, which featured photos with Musk and Trump. Some context: Trump has embraced Hungary’s far-right prime minister, touting Orbán’s backing and hosting him at Mar-a-Lago in March. Orbán has successfully centralized power throughout his 14 years as prime minister, much to the chagrin of his critics and the European Union.
In 2022, the European Parliament voted that Hungary can no longer be considered a true democracy, and the chamber has decried Orbán’s introduction of anti-LGBTQ laws, his expanded control over the judiciary and his so-called peace missions to Russia and China amid the war in Ukraine. Analysis: The case for tariffs as a $3 trillion bargaining chip President-elect Donald Trump views tariffs as a not-so-secret weapon — one that can be deployed to pressure friends and foes alike to address issues from drug trafficking and illegal immigration to threats to the dominance of the US dollar. Trump once dubbed himself “Tariff Man” and recently celebrated these import taxes as “ the greatest thing ever invented.
” Trump’s love of tariffs — and, more specifically, the threat of tariffs — reflects a high-risk, high-reward strategy that’s designed to build maximum pressure on other nations, forcing them to come to the negotiating table. And there is a case to be made for using tariffs as a potent bargaining chip, albeit one that risks raising prices on consumers already hurting from the high cost of living. The United States imports about $3 trillion worth of goods each year.
The specter of tariffs can create real leverage with nations whose economies would be crushed if they suddenly couldn’t sell goods to Americans because Trump just imposed a 100% tariff on them. “If we couldn’t trade with Mexico, we would survive. But it would be the end of the world for Mexico.
That does give us leverage. And leverage is everything when you’re negotiating,” Stephen Moore, a former senior economic adviser during Trump’s first term, told CNN in a phone interview. Moore, who used to unabashedly favor free trade, said Trump convinced him that tariffs can be used as a negotiating tool.
“It’s a dangerous game, one that could work,” said Moore, author of “The Trump Economic Miracle.” “In his first term, President Trump instituted tariffs against China that created jobs, spurred investment, and resulted in no inflation. President Trump will work quickly to fix and restore an economy that puts American workers by re-shoring American jobs, lowering inflation, raising real wages, lowering taxes, cutting regulations, and unshackling American energy,” Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Trump-Vance Transition, told CNN.
Read Egan’s full analysis. Trump's Pentagon pick pledges to support women in the military Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense, said Monday he would support women serving in the military, addressing previous comments he made in which he said women service members should not serve in combat roles. Hegseth said during a Fox News interview that if he’s confirmed as defense secretary, he would support women service members, who he called “some of our greatest warriors,” while seeking to “clarify comments that have been misconstrued” about his views on the roles women military members should be allowed to hold.
“I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don’t support women in the military,” Hegseth said. “Some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there, are women who serve, raise their right hand to defend this country and love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe.” “I’m not presuming anything, but after President Trump asked me to be his secretary of defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military,” he added.
Hegseth’s response comes after he said during a podcast interview last month that “we should not have women in combat roles.” The controversy around Hegseth’s comments about women service members is one of the issues plaguing the former Fox News anchor’s embattled confirmation process, following reports of his alleged sexual misconduct and excessive drinking. Hegseth said Monday he’s eager to have his background scrutinized to clear his name amid the accusations, which he has denied.
Hegseth has been in meetings on Capitol Hill in recent weeks to earn support among senators. He met with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst for the second time on Monday and told Fox News, “It was a great meeting.
” Hegseth said he plans to meet with two of the most moderate members of the Republican Senate caucus later this week. He said he will meet with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday and Maine Sen.
Susan Collins on Wednesday. Trump announces picks for OMB general counsel and assistant attorney general for civil rights President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced Harmeet K. Dhillon , a conservative attorney who has represented Trump, as his selection for assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department.
“In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Trump also announced that Mark Paoletta, another conservative attorney, will be rejoining his administration as the general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. In a Truth Social post , Trump described Paoletta as a “brilliant and tenacious lawyer” and highlighted his previous work in this same role in the first Trump administration.
The president-elect said that Paoletta will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) “to cut the size of our bloated Government bureaucracy, and root out wasteful and anti-American spending.”.
